Wow, all I can say is that YT did a disservice by not pushing videos to larger audience. I have not watched a vid you you've made that I haven't walked away with usable knowledge and/or hard data, even on topics I thought didn't apply to me. Clearly an underrated YTer.
Excellent video/testing, nice van and family. I’m a lifetime HVAC guy. I am in the process of installing a 9000 btu 22 SEER Ameristar mini split hp on my Express 2500, Standard height and length with 2 windows in the back, 2 on right side doors, plus Std cockpit glass. 1” fiberglass duct board insulated walls/ceiling, powered fan on rear roof (it can ventilate while closed, but better when pv is tilted to allow opening). 1000W PV, 5 ea 200W in series, manually tilt-able panels, 4K 120V MagnaSine Inv, Midnite Solar 250 scc, 24V 610ah LFE battery, two 8S with 2 Daly 8S 250A BMS for redundancy. Looks like It will keep us cool.
Woah that set up is a BEAST! Talk about a sweet electrical setup! There's an interesting AC video out there from another HVAC guy where he kept his window AC compressor inside the van but mounted the condenser horizontally under the van with an outdoor compressor fan to cool it. Will you mount your compressor / condenser on the back of the van? Or plan on going full Frankenstein with an under-van mount?
@@VanwithTim I saw that too. I wonder how it’s working out? I’m going to mount it on the rear, left side bumper and keep the left rear door closed all the time. I thought about putting it underneath, but on a standard size van there just wasn’t much room under there, gets very hot and I was worried about salt spray and motor failures. Stop by next time you head south. 70 minutes east of I-75 on I-64.
Excellent testing, very nicely done. I went with a Panasonic 9,000 mini split heat pump/ac. I have a E350 cutaway van that has approximately 686 cubic feet of volume. In South Carolina at 95F it averages 9-11amps or 180-200 watts on economy setting. It will keep it dead on75F on the economy setting or down to 62F on full power pulling 1,100 watts. I have 1,200 watts of solar panels and 600 amp hours of lithium batteries. The Ac should run about 36 hours with batteries
Really has me thinking about future van conversions. The windows are such a nice luxury but absolutely kill the AC / thermal efficiency. Sounds like your set up is very nicely insulated!!
@@VanwithTim I only got the rear windows and I sometimes even regret that. I have foamboard inserts with a reflective layer that I cover them with in the summer.
@@GalenMatson I suppose the ultimate setup would be to run wide-angle flush mount cameras on the outside (to keep a general eye on things) and forego all windows in the living area. I know some people enjoy a window behind the passenger seat for checking blind-spots as well.
This data is spectacular and super helpful! Thanks for taking the time to help those of us who are trying to come up with similar solutions, and wondering about real world conditions!
That was really interesting. You tracked a lot of data. I wonder how much the foam board mockup would have been affected if conductive heat was being transferred to it from a van shell. Really nice video, thanks.
Hey Tim, I followed the link from our conversation over AC copper brazing video. Great job with the test. I love a good analysis with controls. I insulated my van very heavily and this has paid a lot of dividends in both the summer and winter. I got my Ford Transit from the factory in 2018 with a few customizations (ecoboost engine, heavy towing package, upgraded alternator). I first covered the entire interior in sticky butyl sound deadening mats. Then two inches of polyiso insulation around all the walls and ceiling. Some areas of the walls have insulation as deep as 4 inches of polyisocyanurate. Every gap is filled with Loctite expanding foam. I even sheathed the bolts connecting the interior frame so there is no metal on metal contact between the outside and inside to conduct heat. So after installing my air conditioner it has (so far) been able to keep up, so long as I keep the doors shut.
Hey Galen thanks for checking it out! You're definitely the best insulated self-build I've heard of so far. Especially with going the extra mile to avoid thermal bridging the bolts! With your separated compressor / condenser, you're pretty free to put your AC evaporator anywhere in the van. Did you end up mounting up up towards the ceiling? Sounds like a stellar build. Certainly inspiring! -Tim
@@VanwithTim It is up against the ceiling so the cool air will displace the warm air against the ceiling. The evaporator housing rests in a catch basin with a drain line that runs back down, through the floor, and into a water trough under the condenser coil fan. The fan splashes this water on the condenser coil which evaporatively cools the coil for a slight improvement in efficiency. I have plans to direct the condensation into a catch bottle, it is pure water after all, and free water lets me stay off grid for longer.
@@GalenMatson Beautiful setup and planning. I've noticed many window AC's are also using a splash system with the condenser fan to give an extra boost in efficiency (via evaporative cooling). A hotel I worked at had an industrial de-humidifier for the indoor pool. It simply drained the condensation "waste" water back to the pool. Makes sense to hold on to it!
This was quite interesting. Remember that the roof of the van is shaded by your solar panels (assuming there's an air gap between the roof and the panels). A van without shade would perform even worse.
I sometimes wish I had more of an air gap between the panels and the roof. It gets REALLY hot on the roof, but at their current mounting, I can still manage to fit inside a standard U.S. 7-foot high residential garage.
@@VanwithTim Fitting your garage is a more important consideration than the air gap! It's easy to look from the outside and think "I'd have done such-and-such", not understanding all the factors that influenced the builder. I was particularly impressed by your A/C ducting. Well done.
How about you take the door off a large refrigerator and make a bed out of it. Plug it in, set your temperature and be cool for the night. During the day you can put a cushion over the top of the opening and use it as a cool couch. I got this idea from the young women that used to be all dressed up in southern attire at Cypress gardens. Looking so beautiful but they were sitting on cooling benches in the hot sun.
Wow - a lot of work went into producing this! Not likely to apply to my current truck camper shell set up as I don’t really have room for a/c and being in the Canadian Maritimes, the blast of heat in the summer is fairly brief! Keeping warm for half of the year is more the issue! Thanks for the info, though. 👍🏻
Great video! I think one should consider that the interior mount in the van probably greatly restricts the ability of the unit to shed heat. Maybe underway you get better airflow, but sitting in the driveway in the sun must be harder for that unit to move fresh air. I went back and watched your install video, so I get it now. Maybe an auxiliary blower for that cubby would pay off? Just wondering. In the wild, though, parking in some shade at peak sun time would maybe help. I do like your install. My window van gets hot when parked and idling, but is ICE cold on the road (not a camper van, rather a passenger van). Have a Great Day!
Thanks for checking it out! I saw a video where the owner actually split the hot condenser coil and mounted it below the van with a separate fan. Great way to avoid heat build up, but a lot of work (especially if something fails) Another comment mentioned doing a comparison with the van parked in the shade vs the sun. Sounds like a fun future video once we warm up again!
It's really hard to answer the question, how big to make your a/c or how much power will it use. even sunshine has a big impact. 80 degrees at night is a very different thermal load than 80 degrees in full sun. at least in full sun you can enjoy a lot of solar power. thanks for the informative video ☺️
Wow, you are unbelievable Tim. I love this detailed head-to-head comparison. I’m curious, knowing this data, are you going to be making any changes to your van to get it to be closer to the performance of the insulated box set up?
Thanks Zeke, I think I may add a heavy insulated curtain between the living area and cockpit. There are so many things I would change in this van after 2+ years, but really I think selling it and starting with a fresh slate would be best.
That sounds like a good video concept! Will have to check it out and post some results when we circle back to the warm seasons. Thanks for checking it out and thanks for the suggestion! -Tim
I have windows and I highly recommend going ahead and making the foam board window covers. There is a great tutorial on here for a couple that made them for their Prius build this way, with reflectix and fabric for a snug fit and an added layer. I personally made the outsides of mine black or white respectively depending on the panel since I have a white van, and added white or black perforated film to all of my body windows. Then double tinted them, standard so nothing fancy but every bit helps. This cuts down a lot, the white film reflects a bunch in particular, and I still also use a heavy canvas dropcloth curtain over the panels.
fantastic video!! I didn't put windows on my van for this reason! Actually the opposite reason, keeping warm in winter! I wonder how the test would be different in the shade? Obviously I would expect the foam box to win still but I wonder how much is solar gain affecting the van.
Thank goodness for the diesel heater or our cold seasons would be completely unbearable in this heavily windowed van. That shaded AC test could be fun to run once we return back to the warm months! I'm willing to bet the results would be significant.
To minimize the heat from your engine, once you get to your destination open the engine bay hood until the engine and transmission cool down. With the hood open the heat will rise and exit through the engine bay opening.
I've done this a few times and it definitely helps! However it seems to attract a LOT of good samaritans checking to make sure your van is okay. Not a bad problem to have but it was unexpected haha
I think your installation method with having the unit basically inside a cabinet IN the van plus also restricting the cold air and trying to duct the window air conditioner puts the van at a severe handicap as compared to the entirely mounted outside the "test" box along with the unit being mounted higher and the air flow coming directly from the unit into the box. Due to these variables I do not think the run times or the temperature comparisons between the two really have much of a valid apples to apples result. If anything I would say that your van A/C installation method and design although nice for space and stealth is very inefficient as compared to a more standard mounted through a wall or rear window opening mounted unit which expels all of it operating heat outside the van and has free flowing cold air flow directly out of the vents. I have actually seen some videos where people are making a hatch that can be opened and closed sized exactly for the A/C unit and are using heavy duty appliance type of drawer slides to actually slide the units out when being used or slide them inside the vehicle in a cabinet when not being used. This helps the stealth when parked and not using the unit and eliminates the unit hanging out of the vehicle when traveling. Nice work though, I just feel the van is at much more of a disadvantage than just having the windows when comparing the cooling temps and A/C run time and power draw.
Hi Bill, thanks for the comment! You’re spot on in all aspects. Would have loved to mount my unit higher up, but with 100% window coverage above the “belt line” it couldn’t happen. The combination of the evaporator outlet ducting, evaporator inlet being at ground level, and the restrictions on the condenser inlet and outlet leaves the van’s system at many disadvantages. That sliding AC unit sounds fantastic and is quite literally thinking outside the box - love that mindset! Just finished another test with a now insulated partition curtain between the cab and living area. Results were promising but the entire test isn’t very nicely controlled. *This test was in Michigan, vs my recent test in the Mojave Desert of California. Daylight hours were comparable as were the weather patterns, but without a true standardized test environment there are just too many variables. Will probably still post the video and results but obviously they would need to be taken with a grain (or entire shaker) of salt haha. Thanks again for checking out the video and your comment! -Tim
Thanks for watching Michael. My battery bank was around 360AH when new, but realistically I get around 175AH during a high current draw. As you saw in the video, the AC duty cycle plays a huge part in energy usage. At 100% duty cycle and no solar charging, my batteries would support around 4.5 hours of AC.
I think the answer is "it depends"! It's easy to measure the load when the A/C is on. But as we see in the video, duty cycle is critical but it's really hard to predict due to all the variables. More insulation is better, so is better air-tight sealing. don't park in the sun, don't open the door constantly. if your run time is insufficient, add more batteries. if your cooling power isn't keeping up, get a bigger unit, more insulation, or a second unit. Or drive to somewhere more cool ;) I saw a video of a sprinter conversion that could run the AC straight off of solar while sitting in the sun, and keep the inside in the 70s. I think that is pretty cool, it leaves the batteries to run the AC when the sun goes down when power requirements will be a lot less! I've always liked Tim's conversion as it is really low cost (window unit) but doesn't look trashy. When his AC blows out it should be pretty simple to drop in a replacement that can be found almost anywhere. can't say that for a mini-split.
I noticed that the box AC turned on/off a lot more than the van AC. Wouldn't that use more power from the surge of spinning up the motors more often? For instance, using the same amount of on time, wouldn't it use more power turning on/off 20 times per hour vs. turning on/off 4 times per hour?
Such a huge difference in energy usage. I think I may sell this set up in the future (as it's still pretty functional) and just start fresh with a windowless van. An insulated partition between the living area and drivers cabin would help immensely in this van, but I would lose the passenger swivel seat... Of course I suppose I could probably do a heavily insulated curtain? You just got my thinking!
@@VanwithTim I used blackout curtains and sewed a soft microfiber blanket into them. The rear curtains I sewed hook and loop fastener onto (Velcro). They stick to velcro tape over the rear doors. The front curtain is on a rod that goes over the two cabin seats so I can easily open or close it. I have reflective window covers for each window as well. I use them together when it is really hot or cold.
I am wondering what would happen if you put the new a/c in the van? It is new, has no dirt, and hasn't taken the beating your other a/c has. It might show an efficiency difference.
I usually try to hose down the dusty condenser coils with each van wash, but I'm sure it's still a bit dirty inside the unit. Could be a cool test! Really wish I had access to the exact Toshiba unit for the comparison, but time was a constraint. Still some pretty crazy power draw differences. Didn't expect that big of a gap!
Wow, all I can say is that YT did a disservice by not pushing videos to larger audience. I have not watched a vid you you've made that I haven't walked away with usable knowledge and/or hard data, even on topics I thought didn't apply to me. Clearly an underrated YTer.
Excellent video/testing, nice van and family.
I’m a lifetime HVAC guy. I am in the process of installing a 9000 btu 22 SEER Ameristar mini split hp on my Express 2500, Standard height and length with 2 windows in the back, 2 on right side doors, plus Std cockpit glass. 1” fiberglass duct board insulated walls/ceiling, powered fan on rear roof (it can ventilate while closed, but better when pv is tilted to allow opening).
1000W PV, 5 ea 200W in series, manually tilt-able panels, 4K 120V MagnaSine Inv, Midnite Solar 250 scc, 24V 610ah LFE battery, two 8S with 2 Daly 8S 250A BMS for redundancy. Looks like It will keep us cool.
Woah that set up is a BEAST! Talk about a sweet electrical setup!
There's an interesting AC video out there from another HVAC guy where he kept his window AC compressor inside the van but mounted the condenser horizontally under the van with an outdoor compressor fan to cool it.
Will you mount your compressor / condenser on the back of the van? Or plan on going full Frankenstein with an under-van mount?
@@VanwithTim I saw that too. I wonder how it’s working out? I’m going to mount it on the rear, left side bumper and keep the left rear door closed all the time. I thought about putting it underneath, but on a standard size van there just wasn’t much room under there, gets very hot and I was worried about salt spray and motor failures. Stop by next time you head south. 70 minutes east of I-75 on I-64.
WOW! You are the first person I see on youtube who did this type of rigorous test. I should be ashamed of myself.. Thanks alot!
Excellent testing, very nicely done.
I went with a Panasonic 9,000 mini split heat pump/ac.
I have a E350 cutaway van that has approximately 686 cubic feet of volume. In South Carolina at 95F it averages 9-11amps or 180-200 watts on economy setting. It will keep it dead on75F on the economy setting or down to 62F on full power pulling 1,100 watts. I have 1,200 watts of solar panels and 600 amp hours of lithium batteries. The Ac should run about 36 hours with batteries
Really has me thinking about future van conversions. The windows are such a nice luxury but absolutely kill the AC / thermal efficiency.
Sounds like your set up is very nicely insulated!!
@@VanwithTim R-13-16 just about everywhere. I enjoyed the video and subscribed 👍
Close to mine
@@VanwithTim I only got the rear windows and I sometimes even regret that. I have foamboard inserts with a reflective layer that I cover them with in the summer.
@@GalenMatson I suppose the ultimate setup would be to run wide-angle flush mount cameras on the outside (to keep a general eye on things) and forego all windows in the living area.
I know some people enjoy a window behind the passenger seat for checking blind-spots as well.
This data is spectacular and super helpful! Thanks for taking the time to help those of us who are trying to come up with similar solutions, and wondering about real world conditions!
That was really interesting. You tracked a lot of data.
I wonder how much the foam board mockup would have been affected if conductive heat was being transferred to it from a van shell.
Really nice video, thanks.
Good stuff mate
Hey Tim, I followed the link from our conversation over AC copper brazing video. Great job with the test. I love a good analysis with controls. I insulated my van very heavily and this has paid a lot of dividends in both the summer and winter. I got my Ford Transit from the factory in 2018 with a few customizations (ecoboost engine, heavy towing package, upgraded alternator). I first covered the entire interior in sticky butyl sound deadening mats. Then two inches of polyiso insulation around all the walls and ceiling. Some areas of the walls have insulation as deep as 4 inches of polyisocyanurate. Every gap is filled with Loctite expanding foam. I even sheathed the bolts connecting the interior frame so there is no metal on metal contact between the outside and inside to conduct heat. So after installing my air conditioner it has (so far) been able to keep up, so long as I keep the doors shut.
Hey Galen thanks for checking it out! You're definitely the best insulated self-build I've heard of so far. Especially with going the extra mile to avoid thermal bridging the bolts!
With your separated compressor / condenser, you're pretty free to put your AC evaporator anywhere in the van. Did you end up mounting up up towards the ceiling?
Sounds like a stellar build. Certainly inspiring!
-Tim
@@VanwithTim It is up against the ceiling so the cool air will displace the warm air against the ceiling. The evaporator housing rests in a catch basin with a drain line that runs back down, through the floor, and into a water trough under the condenser coil fan. The fan splashes this water on the condenser coil which evaporatively cools the coil for a slight improvement in efficiency. I have plans to direct the condensation into a catch bottle, it is pure water after all, and free water lets me stay off grid for longer.
@@GalenMatson Beautiful setup and planning. I've noticed many window AC's are also using a splash system with the condenser fan to give an extra boost in efficiency (via evaporative cooling).
A hotel I worked at had an industrial de-humidifier for the indoor pool. It simply drained the condensation "waste" water back to the pool.
Makes sense to hold on to it!
What a great test, lots of info!
This is a great video, thanks for making it... Going to build out a Ford E150 in the Philippines.. need aircon, this helps a lot :)
This was quite interesting. Remember that the roof of the van is shaded by your solar panels (assuming there's an air gap between the roof and the panels). A van without shade would perform even worse.
I sometimes wish I had more of an air gap between the panels and the roof. It gets REALLY hot on the roof, but at their current mounting, I can still manage to fit inside a standard U.S. 7-foot high residential garage.
@@VanwithTim Fitting your garage is a more important consideration than the air gap! It's easy to look from the outside and think "I'd have done such-and-such", not understanding all the factors that influenced the builder. I was particularly impressed by your A/C ducting. Well done.
How about you take the door off a large refrigerator and make a bed out of it. Plug it in, set your temperature and be cool for the night. During the day you can put a cushion over the top of the opening and use it as a cool couch. I got this idea from the young women that used to be all dressed up in southern attire at Cypress gardens. Looking so beautiful but they were sitting on cooling benches in the hot sun.
I love you Tim youre the Best! thanks buddy
Glad to hear it was helpful Rick!
Cheers!
Wow - a lot of work went into producing this! Not likely to apply to my current truck camper shell set up as I don’t really have room for a/c and being in the Canadian Maritimes, the blast of heat in the summer is fairly brief! Keeping warm for half of the year is more the issue! Thanks for the info, though. 👍🏻
Great video! I think one should consider that the interior mount in the van probably greatly restricts the ability of the unit to shed heat. Maybe underway you get better airflow, but sitting in the driveway in the sun must be harder for that unit to move fresh air. I went back and watched your install video, so I get it now. Maybe an auxiliary blower for that cubby would pay off? Just wondering. In the wild, though, parking in some shade at peak sun time would maybe help. I do like your install. My window van gets hot when parked and idling, but is ICE cold on the road (not a camper van, rather a passenger van). Have a Great Day!
Thanks for checking it out!
I saw a video where the owner actually split the hot condenser coil and mounted it below the van with a separate fan. Great way to avoid heat build up, but a lot of work (especially if something fails)
Another comment mentioned doing a comparison with the van parked in the shade vs the sun. Sounds like a fun future video once we warm up again!
It's really hard to answer the question, how big to make your a/c or how much power will it use. even sunshine has a big impact. 80 degrees at night is a very different thermal load than 80 degrees in full sun. at least in full sun you can enjoy a lot of solar power. thanks for the informative video ☺️
So many variables. The sun is truly a double edged sword in regard to solar and air conditioning!
Great work.
Wow, you are unbelievable Tim. I love this detailed head-to-head comparison. I’m curious, knowing this data, are you going to be making any changes to your van to get it to be closer to the performance of the insulated box set up?
Thanks Zeke, I think I may add a heavy insulated curtain between the living area and cockpit.
There are so many things I would change in this van after 2+ years, but really I think selling it and starting with a fresh slate would be best.
@@VanwithTim Seeing all the things you would change and why would be a great video too!
Awesome video. Thanks
That was a very interesting video.
I would love to see another test the same but from 9pm to 9am.
That way it’s mainly for sleeping with. 👍👍
That sounds like a good video concept!
Will have to check it out and post some results when we circle back to the warm seasons.
Thanks for checking it out and thanks for the suggestion!
-Tim
I have windows and I highly recommend going ahead and making the foam board window covers. There is a great tutorial on here for a couple that made them for their Prius build this way, with reflectix and fabric for a snug fit and an added layer. I personally made the outsides of mine black or white respectively depending on the panel since I have a white van, and added white or black perforated film to all of my body windows. Then double tinted them, standard so nothing fancy but every bit helps. This cuts down a lot, the white film reflects a bunch in particular, and I still also use a heavy canvas dropcloth curtain over the panels.
fantastic video!! I didn't put windows on my van for this reason! Actually the opposite reason, keeping warm in winter! I wonder how the test would be different in the shade? Obviously I would expect the foam box to win still but I wonder how much is solar gain affecting the van.
Thank goodness for the diesel heater or our cold seasons would be completely unbearable in this heavily windowed van.
That shaded AC test could be fun to run once we return back to the warm months!
I'm willing to bet the results would be significant.
To minimize the heat from your engine, once you get to your destination open the engine bay hood until the engine and transmission cool down. With the hood open the heat will rise and exit through the engine bay opening.
I've done this a few times and it definitely helps! However it seems to attract a LOT of good samaritans checking to make sure your van is okay. Not a bad problem to have but it was unexpected haha
I think your installation method with having the unit basically inside a cabinet IN the van plus also restricting the cold air and trying to duct the window air conditioner puts the van at a severe handicap as compared to the entirely mounted outside the "test" box along with the unit being mounted higher and the air flow coming directly from the unit into the box.
Due to these variables I do not think the run times or the temperature comparisons between the two really have much of a valid apples to apples result.
If anything I would say that your van A/C installation method and design although nice for space and stealth is very inefficient as compared to a more standard mounted through a wall or rear window opening mounted unit which expels all of it operating heat outside the van and has free flowing cold air flow directly out of the vents.
I have actually seen some videos where people are making a hatch that can be opened and closed sized exactly for the A/C unit and are using heavy duty appliance type of drawer slides to actually slide the units out when being used or slide them inside the vehicle in a cabinet when not being used. This helps the stealth when parked and not using the unit and eliminates the unit hanging out of the vehicle when traveling.
Nice work though, I just feel the van is at much more of a disadvantage than just having the windows when comparing the cooling temps and A/C run time and power draw.
Hi Bill, thanks for the comment!
You’re spot on in all aspects. Would have loved to mount my unit higher up, but with 100% window coverage above the “belt line” it couldn’t happen.
The combination of the evaporator outlet ducting, evaporator inlet being at ground level, and the restrictions on the condenser inlet and outlet leaves the van’s system at many disadvantages.
That sliding AC unit sounds fantastic and is quite literally thinking outside the box - love that mindset!
Just finished another test with a now insulated partition curtain between the cab and living area. Results were promising but the entire test isn’t very nicely controlled.
*This test was in Michigan, vs my recent test in the Mojave Desert of California. Daylight hours were comparable as were the weather patterns, but without a true standardized test environment there are just too many variables.
Will probably still post the video and results but obviously they would need to be taken with a grain (or entire shaker) of salt haha.
Thanks again for checking out the video and your comment!
-Tim
Hey Tim ,
Thanks for making this video, this is the one question that no one has answered until now , how long can you run the A/C on battery power.
Thanks for watching Michael. My battery bank was around 360AH when new, but realistically I get around 175AH during a high current draw. As you saw in the video, the AC duty cycle plays a huge part in energy usage. At 100% duty cycle and no solar charging, my batteries would support around 4.5 hours of AC.
I think the answer is "it depends"! It's easy to measure the load when the A/C is on. But as we see in the video, duty cycle is critical but it's really hard to predict due to all the variables. More insulation is better, so is better air-tight sealing. don't park in the sun, don't open the door constantly. if your run time is insufficient, add more batteries. if your cooling power isn't keeping up, get a bigger unit, more insulation, or a second unit. Or drive to somewhere more cool ;) I saw a video of a sprinter conversion that could run the AC straight off of solar while sitting in the sun, and keep the inside in the 70s. I think that is pretty cool, it leaves the batteries to run the AC when the sun goes down when power requirements will be a lot less! I've always liked Tim's conversion as it is really low cost (window unit) but doesn't look trashy. When his AC blows out it should be pretty simple to drop in a replacement that can be found almost anywhere. can't say that for a mini-split.
I noticed that the box AC turned on/off a lot more than the van AC. Wouldn't that use more power from the surge of spinning up the motors more often?
For instance, using the same amount of on time, wouldn't it use more power turning on/off 20 times per hour vs. turning on/off 4 times per hour?
insulation (or lack thereof) seems to be the deciding factor on net energy usage. will you be redoing your insulation in the van?
Such a huge difference in energy usage. I think I may sell this set up in the future (as it's still pretty functional) and just start fresh with a windowless van.
An insulated partition between the living area and drivers cabin would help immensely in this van, but I would lose the passenger swivel seat...
Of course I suppose I could probably do a heavily insulated curtain? You just got my thinking!
@@VanwithTim I bought a sewing machine and learned to use it just to make insulated curtains to section off the cabin.
@@GalenMatson Did you use anything special for fabric? I'm sure ANYTHING is better than the thin sheer sheet I currently have.
@@VanwithTim I used blackout curtains and sewed a soft microfiber blanket into them. The rear curtains I sewed hook and loop fastener onto (Velcro). They stick to velcro tape over the rear doors. The front curtain is on a rod that goes over the two cabin seats so I can easily open or close it. I have reflective window covers for each window as well. I use them together when it is really hot or cold.
I am wondering what would happen if you put the new a/c in the van? It is new, has no dirt, and hasn't taken the beating your other a/c has. It might show an efficiency difference.
I usually try to hose down the dusty condenser coils with each van wash, but I'm sure it's still a bit dirty inside the unit.
Could be a cool test!
Really wish I had access to the exact Toshiba unit for the comparison, but time was a constraint.
Still some pretty crazy power draw differences. Didn't expect that big of a gap!